Mexican Bikers Make Trek to the Lone Star State
A group of motorcycle enthusiasts from Mexico make the trek to Texas to add their own signature to a truly American experience: the Republic of Texas Biker Rally. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/06/19/IMG_1671.jpg)
The latest politics news from The Texas Tribune.
A group of motorcycle enthusiasts from Mexico make the trek to Texas to add their own signature to a truly American experience: the Republic of Texas Biker Rally. Full Story
UPDATED: Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Barry Smitherman released a web video via Twitter, Facebook, and his website on Monday formally announcing his candidacy for the 2014 Republican nomination for attorney general. Full Story
This week in the Texas Weekly Newsreel: The end of the special session is in sight, the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune polls are out and a judge says new school finance litigation case will begin in January. Full Story
Texans strongly favor criminal and mental health background checks on all gun sales, and they are divided when it comes to concealed weapons on college campuses, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
Candidates are racing to raise money before an end-of-the-month deadline, the better to prove the strength of their campaigns for 2014 in reports that come out July 15. Full Story
The Texas House went off script Thursday, adopting several amendments to political redistricting maps it initially intended to adopt without changes. Full Story
It's virtually impossible to predict what Rick Perry will do, but speculation is mounting that he won't run for re-election. The chatter is on the upswing now that the governor has said he will make his intentions known before July 1. Full Story
Most Texans still see the nation as being on the wrong track, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. And the issue of political corruption and leadership is rising on Texans’ list of top problems facing the country. Full Story
The finance primaries started this week and the special session has another week to run, but the season's first skirmishes among Texas Republicans are starting to appear. Full Story
UPDATED: The board of the state’s embattled Texas Windstorm Insurance Association agreed Tuesday to take steps that it says will better prepare the agency for the 2013 hurricane season and be more efficient over the long term. Full Story
For this week's nonscientific survey of insiders in politics and government, we asked about the travails of the Travis County district attorney, and about the governor's ultimatum that she resign or lose state funding for her office. Full Story
Texas Democrats exercised considerable influence over the legislative process during the 2013 regular session, in contrast with their relative impotence last fall. While the November election results were unequivocally red, the legislation passed during the session was decidedly purple. Full Story
Texas politicians and institutions are getting much better marks from the state’s voters than the president and Congress, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
Two legislators from Hidalgo County and two from Cameron County recall what it took to come up with a compromise on the bill to create a new university in South Texas, which Gov. Rick Perry recently signed into law. Full Story
In a new video, Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, a declared candidate for lieutenant governor in 2014, vows that he will fight back against progressives who want to turn tomorrow's Texas into the California or Washington, D.C., of today. Full Story
As two Texans eye a 2016 presidential bid, one has already emerged as an early front-runner among the state's Republicans. Full Story
Barry Smitherman, the chairman of the Railroad Commission and former chairman of the Public Utility Commission, has earned praise as a smart and competent regulator. But he is also ambitious, and speculation is rife that he will make a bid for attorney general. Full Story
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz starts as the Texas favorite in a fantasy 2016 Republican primary for president, well ahead of Gov. Rick Perry and a number of other big-name candidates in the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
As Gov. Rick Perry puts an end to the so-called Kumbaya Session, we begin our weekly news-inspired playlist with Alice Cooper's "No More Mr. Nice Guy." Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry issued more than two dozen vetoes Friday, including a line-item veto that wipes out funding for the Travis County prosecutors who investigate government fraud and public corruption. He also vetoed a bill that would have had Texas law mirror gender wage protections in the federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. Full Story